Embossing an edge-loop
One way to do this is by beveling, then extruding:

What I did in the gif:

Enter edit mode (Tab)

Enter face select mode (CtrlTab&gt; Face)

Select a face on the surface that I want to select, then press CtrlShiftAltF to select the entire surface.

3D view &gt; Header &gt; Select &gt; Select Boundary loop:


Bevel (CtrlB)

Extrude and cancel transform (EEsc) See this question for details on what pressing Esc does.

Press AltS to scale along the normals.